Brick Walls
Every genealogist knows about Brick Walls. Your research is going great and then you come to an obstacle that is a dead end. My Brick Wall lasted for over twenty years. Nearly a quarter of a century.
After I graduated from Bethany College, I became interested in genealogy. Back in those days, there was no internet- which later provided a revolution in genealogical research. Back then it was all done by combing through family history books and folders in research libraries and sending query letters to relatives and possible relatives in the mail- a very slow and laborious method compared to what genealogists now have at their fingertips.
The Old Scroll
But my father did have a copy of an old scroll detailing the branches of his family tree. The author was unknown- likely dead and gone. Which made it even more mysterious.
There were six very large pages, rolled up together. The first page detailed my grandmother's Womack family- her parents, her grandparents and even her great grandfather. My father knew that the family had come from Rankin County, Mississippi, and moved to Trinity County, Texas, where he was born.
Sure enough, the scroll showed that my grandmother's father was born in Rankin County in 1850, although his children, including my grandmother, were born in Trinity County, Texas.
Her grandfather was listed as Abraham James Womack, a man she often spoke about. Her grandmother was Rebecca Jane Franklin. And her great- grandfather was shown as Henry Franklin. It appeared from all of these names and my father's knowledge that I was on the right track for learning about my genealogy.
The Clue
Then came a great discovery for any Bethany graduate. Next to Rebecca Jane Franklin, my great-great grandmother, there was listed a Rosa Franklin, who married a Beasley Campbell. According to the scroll, Beasley Campbell was "a descendant of Alexander Campbell who founded the Campbellites."
The Letter
Excited, I wrote to the archivist at Bethany. The returned letter was a great disappointment. Included in the reply was the sentence "There was no Beasley Campbell." Disappointed, I figured that some well-meaning family history researcher had made an all too common error- trying to connect someone in the family with a famous person. So I took the archivists word for it.
Life Happened
Then life happened. I married, had children, moved overseas, and traveled the world. It would be over twenty years before I had time to return to genealogy.
Enter the Internet
When I returned to Bethany College, it was as an assistant professor rather than a student. And when I retired, I had time, once again, for genealogy.
By now, the internet was in full swing, expanding the horizons of genealogy exponentially. I found out that the family scroll, although amazingly accurate, was also a little bit off here and there.
There was a Beasley Campbell- but he was not a descendant of Alexander Campbell.
However, one of his sons, Thomas Franklin Campbell, (named after his grandfather- my own ancestor-Thomas Franklin) had attended Bethany College. And he married into the Campbell family.His wife was a cousin of Alexander Campbell named Jane Eliza Campbell.
This time I went to the archives in person. The current archivist, Sharon Monigold, told me she did have some things on Thomas Franklin Campbell. He had, indeed, attended Bethany College, and he had, indeed, married Jane Eliza Campbell.
As I poured over the documents, thrilled with the discovery, she said "But I have more things about his niece, who also lived at Bethany...."
And that was the beginning of this story....
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